ABSTRACT
Afghanistan is a geological complex in which plentiful minerals and fuels were formed. During the last 100 years, geologists from Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and the United States explored that country and produced many excellent reports and maps. Real progress in a systematic analysis of Afghanistan's natural resources, however, was not made until the intensive efforts of the U.S.S.R. in the past two decades.
By diplomatic and economic maneuvers, the Soviets took control of Afghanistan's nascent hydrocarbon industry during the 1960s. After the Daoud coup of 1973, the Russians and their Afghan supporters replaced pro-Western technical advisors, made all geological reports and maps state secrets, and hampered Western-linked development projects. By 1977, intensive field investigations by numerous Russian geologists led to the discovery of hundreds of mineral deposits, occurrences, or shows---as well as several excellent petroleum prospects.
Many have claimed that Afghanistan is poor in natural resources; this conclusion is incorrect. Total Russian aid to that country since 1955 has been $1.3 billion, and in 1979, some $652 million was committed to mineral-resource exploration and development. The present Russian military occupation of Afghanistan is partially subsidized with Afghanistan resources. Resource acquisition by the U.S.S.R. in Afghanistan is thus a most important factor in the world mineral situation today.
